Transaction cards are an efficient means for storing and providing information between a consumer and a participating vendor or issuing agent. For example, transaction cards are commonly used in customer loyalty and gift card programs, as prepaid phone cards or as credit and debit cards. Transaction cards are often offered by a manufacturer as part of package that also includes an attached carrier and additional cards or key tags. In many cases, the carrier includes advertisements and holes for hanging the transaction card at a sale display.
Information is typically encoded on the cards in a machine readable format, such as a bar code or on a magnetic stripe. The information stored on the transaction card may be static and fixed during manufacture, as in a bar code, or in a variable format that permits modification of the information during use, as in a magnetic stripe. Bar codes are fixed during manufacture to provide specified data over the life of the card. In contrast, magnetic stripes are capable of being encoded and re-encoded with variable information.
Modern equipment used to encode the magnetic stripe is highly automated and operates at a high volume. Typically, the transaction card with the magnetic stripe is passed through the encoding equipment in a specified direction and speed. As the transaction card passes through the encoder, an encoding “head” encodes information to the magnetic stripe.
In the past, card manufacturers have configured transaction card assemblies so that the portion of the card with the magnetic stripe extends below the carrier. Such a prior art design is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,584 issued to Goade, Sr. on Jul. 13, 1999 (the “Goade '584 patent”). A representation of one of the embodiments disclosed by the Goade '584 patent is presented in the prior art drawing of FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows a transaction card assembly 200 that includes a card carrier 202 and a transaction card 204. The transaction card 204 includes a magnetic stripe 206 that resides on a portion of the card 204 that extends below the carrier 202. In this way, the magnetic stripe 206 can be accessed by an encoding machine without obstruction from the card carrier 202.
This configuration was necessary at the time to allow encoding. However, this configuration weakens the construction of the card assembly and is somewhat unattractive. As shown by the prior art card assembly in FIG. 2, manufacturers have recently strengthened the transaction card assembly card by increasing the amount of contact between the card and carrier. The prior art transaction card assembly 300 of FIG. 2 includes a carrier 302 and a card 304 with a magnetic stripe 306. Unlike the card assembly in the Goade '584 patent, however, three full sides of the card 304 are attached to the carrier 302. This modification greatly improves the structural integrity of the card assembly 300. Because the magnetic stripe 306 is typically applied as an integral part of a laminate over the card assembly 300, the magnetic stripe 306 extends across the entire card assembly 300, crossing the card 304 and the attached sides of the carrier 302.
Although structurally superior, the prior art card assembly 300 shown in FIG. 2 presents some difficulty during the encoding process. Because only the portion of the magnetic stripe 306 adhered to the card 304 is used to retain information, the encoding equipment must not prematurely begin the transfer of information on the portions of the magnetic stripe 306 adhered to the carrier 302. To ensure that encoder properly places the data on the card 304, a complex “delayed encoding” process must be followed in which the encoder detects and edge of the card assembly 100 and calculates a delay period based on the distance between the edge of the carrier and the edge of the card.
This process requires precise calculations and advanced encoding equipment. A need therefore exists for a transaction card and carrier design that exhibits increased structural integrity while eliminating the need for advanced encoding equipment. It is to these and other needs that the present invention is directed.